In this latest update to OxfordDictionaries.com, Australian English features prominently. From lamington drives, sausage sizzles, and magic puddings to she

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

While I think most Americans are trying to still find their way around the differences between British English and American English, the Oxford Dictionaries have reminded us that we need to remember the language of our friends down under! Read this is you'd like to expand your English language skills. --techcommgeekmom

Big changes to Google’s search algorithms are coming: beginning April 21, the company will increase the ranking of sites that are mobile-friendly and surface app results much higher. The company says…

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

Thanks to Marta Rauch for posting this on Facebook today. I do see this as something that will have a big impact. As I was learning in my mobile marketing class this week (and already knew as well), mobile is continuing to gain speed as the primary resource of computing for most people globally. For many outside the US, a smartphone is the ONLY computing device they have. Having a ranking of more mobile friendly sites is going to have a major impact on how people access information via search!

Global social is a term that I use for the practice of having a social media presence in more than one country/culture/language. It's is quite problematic. Here's why.

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

Since I'm in digital marketing mode mentally because of the coursework I'm taking, this is very appropriate to the unit I did recently on social media marketing. I don't think we even approached this information! Val Swisher does it again, and makes a very good point about the translation and localization aspects of social media marketing.

The competition for attention is fierce. Learn how to stand out! 10 social media strategy ideas to help your business generate real results.

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

I found this on Twitter this morning by way of Rebekah Radice. These ten steps are so basic, but a good reminder of what does work. I've learned this by trial and error on my own, but also learned it through my digital marketing class that I'm taking right now. These aren't hard steps, especially for most technical communicators, yet it's a good refresher.

Google has launched a service called YouTube Kids, a new version of the internet’s leading destination for video aimed squarely at children.

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

Oh, I wish this had been out sooner! My son is a little too old for this now that he's almost 14, but YouTube videos for the 12 years old and under group is a great idea. The filters on the regular YouTube aren't so great, so hopefully this product will allow parents--and teachers--some peace of mind letting the kids access videos this way. Time will tell....

'Social Media is not working for me!' I hear it all the time... Here are 5 reasons why I think it might not be working for you - and how to fix it!Let’s see why Social Media is not working for you1. Your Website SucksSometimes clients still ask me if they can just use a Facebook page and not bother with a website. No, no and no. As I mention in my e-book, your website is your home, and with Social Media you are sending out invitations to come visit your place. But let’s say you are hosting a big

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

Since this is turning out to be a week where I'm concentrating on social media, this great article appeared on LinkedIn. All the reasons that the author lists is true, and so many companies fail to see that. I admit, I need to freshen up some of my websites soon! Take a look, and pick up some good pointers.

While the title of this article by Tom Johnson is almost inflammatory (What? There's got to be more innovations than that!), it is clear that if this isn't the only significant innovation for tech comm, it's most definitely THE most important innovation. Tom does a great job making his points--they are points I would argue as well, but I think he articulates it better than I could.

I came into tech writing and tech comm just in the last few years, when web was firmly established, and yet, I'm finding as I take my digital marketing course that there are still so many that are STILL not on board with the use of the Internet and the web for providing strong content and information. I think we've made some huge strides, and Tom points out how tech writers are still needed to help with making content stronger in the long term, but we are still in the infancy of using the web for communications and things are still developing on how to better deliver content to the masses. Time will tell.

What do you think? Do you agree with Tom's points? Include your comments below.

In today’s content packed web, we often see the words “blog” and “article” used interchangeably; so much that the line between the two terms seems to increasingly become blurry. Today we’ll answer the very common question: Blogging Vs Article Writing – Is There A Difference? … And most importantly, how does it impact your web platform strategy?First, let’s cover blog vs. blog post. If you are interested in becoming a reputable blogger, the first step is to know that a blog is a web-site where bl

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

This is an excellent article I found on LinkedIn that explains the difference between blogging and article writing. There is a difference! I agree with the Mr. Bare's explanation here. In my mind, blogging is part of a conversation with another person, rather than merely projecting out facts, figures and other information. Granted, the conversation in blogging can be one-sided if no one responds, but there is no question that it's much more personal and H2H--human-to-human. Only disagreement I have is that blog posts are short. Heck, dude, have you read my blog? ;-) Great guidelines to understand the differences, if you ask me, outlined here.

I have to say, while I'm on Google+, I'm not a big fan of it. It seems horribly disjointed, and when I've tried to fix or rectify things, well, you just can't. I even had a tech writer from Google who works on the documentation of Google+ try to help me at one point, and she couldn't. Now, the article mentions Google Wave. I did try that before they pulled the plug, and that seemed like it was going in the right direction. I didn't understand why they stopped that. Google+ is touted as something big, but if users can't figure out how to use it for posting their own stuff and adding "+1s", then what's the point? As the intro to this says, "It's no Facebook," and that's fine--it doesn't have to be. But it should be easy to use, easy for people to share and post on different groups and move around to customize like other social media outlets. I'm usually good at figuring this stuff out, but have never quite gotten a handle on Google+. Hopefully, they'll get their act together soon.

You'll soon be able to charge your mobile device directly on various IKEA furniture, from nightstands and desks to even the base of a lamp.

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

This is a cool development, and proof that mobile is here to stay! If IKEA is going to be starting to include this technology in the near future, this should be an incentive for others to follow suit. I know that I'll be in line to get some of these for around my house, once they are available!

This is Brilliant, and proof that mobile is here to stay! If IKEA's furniture is going to be able to wirelessly charge your mobile device in the near future, maybe others will follow suit. I know I'll be first in line to get some of my own! -MobileMary http://AnotherBrilliantIdea.com

A year ago, Google’s Matt Cutts and others declared guest blogging for SEO was dead. But the naysayers were wrong. I’ve discovered good guest blogs with links from authoritative sites and social shares still can improve your rankings.

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

This is a great article that the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) posted recently. I have to agree that the points made here are good ones. I have been a guest blogger for other sites. In several cases, those sites got more hits for an article I wrote than articles I write for my own blog! Even so, knowing that I've done well on those other sites lets me know that I must be doing something right. Additionally, I'm happy to have relevent guest blogger on my blog as well. I don't like having people who are content hackers writing for me. I want people who have the same passion as I do to write for my blog as well. (And if you are reading this and not part of some pool of content generating writers writing for the sake of creating crap content, feel free to contact me!)

Being on either side of the guest blogging equation is a win-win situation. Take a look at this article, and you'll see why.

Want to do more with the content you already have? Recycle it! These 7 tips will help you leverage content opportunities and drive new traffic to old pages.

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

Mike Moran, one of my instructors for my online mini-MBA digital marketing class, posted this on his website. The reuse of content is nothing new to content strategists! Single sourcing! But Mike has some great suggestions for some ideas on how to do this that isn't limited to digital marketing, but content in general.

To prove a point that it still works in marketing, think about the latest Snickers commercial that was shown at the Super Bowl. They took a segment from a Brady Bunch show--which we are all familiar with--and added new actors, tweaked the script a bit, and voila! New commercial with punch!

Try one of these if you haven't in the past. Great suggestions here that I might use myself.

Ana Redmond launched into a technology career for an exciting challenge and a chance to change the world. She was well-equipped to succeed too: An ambitious math and science wiz, she could code faster, with fewer errors, than anyone she knew.

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

Funny how that works. Companies really need to listen to we females. Our different perspective can often help, as the one example that was given for the woman who made the improvement on the website then got shot down.

I'm reminded of just a few years ago, when I was getting started in grad school, that I signed up for a mentorship program online that was supposed to be geared towards women in engineering and tech. When the person I was matched up with tried to talk to me, he shot down why I was even getting involved in technical communications. He thought it had no future at all, and questioned why I'd even get my degree in the subject. It wasn't like he was encouraging me to go into programming either, but he wasn't exactly encouraging. Glad I dumped him and the program and did my own thing anyway. But I still see those barriers in very subtle ways. I still don't feel like I have much of a voice in matters. Even today, I was in a conference call about localization, and I told them that I study this topic on my own time, read the book (see my review of Val Swisher's Global Content Strategy), so I do have a good idea of what I'm talking about, and I was trying to encourage a top-down look at globalization instead of the bottom pushing up from local to global.

Anyway, I think they heard, but I don't think anything is going to be done about it, but I can say that I got it off my chest, at least. Was it because I'm female? I'm not sure. But I do know that women are not considered as smart very often in tech stuff, and it really burns me.

The divisive UI changes distracted from more welcome lower-level upgrades.

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

I admit, I am one of those last holdouts still on Windows 7. I was very hesitant to upgrade to Windows 8 when it came out, and despite fixes that were made since its release, I haven't committed to the upgrade. Based on this article, I'm more excited to upgrade to Windows 10 once it comes out. I'm hoping that some of the changes will, indeed, help improve how well my machine works as a result, and perhaps I can save a couple thousand dollars in not getting a new laptop. We'll see...

This is a great article that I will be rereading over and over again! Thanks to Scott Abel for sharing it on LinkedIn. I know I suffer from writer's block often for my blog, but it's mostly because much of what I do in my professional life right now is rather mundane, and not much exciting stuff to share or analyze at the moment.

Microsoft has been largely dead to Silicon Valley because for the past decade they struggled in -- or completely missed -- the last five major technology movements. Those five movements, and who they lost to are:1/open source (to Linux, MySQL, etc.)2/search (to Google)3/mobile (to Apple)4/social (to Facebook)5/cloud (to Amazon)In this piece: why MSFT failed (dividends), why they’re back (Satya) & what 7 things they can do to be as important to the future as Apple, Google, and Facebook.[ Click to

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

This is an article found on LinkedIn. I will be very curious to see how Microsoft re-emerges from its "down" years. I have still held by Microsoft for a long time, and except for phones and tablets, we are still a family entrenched in Microsoft at my house. I can't let go. I'm hoping that the new developments described in this article bring back the innovation and "cool" factors that Microsoft so desparately needs in order to stay in the game.

I hope they up their game. This stupidity of not their particular brand of exclusivity... is holding them back and making me consider other options. Integration is the wave of the future. That's why I love scoopit and hootsuite.

Social media may be new but the psychological desires that drive its use are old. Strategists need to understand and master these ideas.

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

This is an article I had to read for my Digital Marketing class, and I love it. It was written two years ago by the instructor of the module I'm doing, Mark Schaefer. It's a variation of the items that drive Social Media that I learned in grad school from Andrew Klobucar, and I have found in both cases, this information is on target! Take a look--it applies not only to marketing using social media, but how we use social media in general. --techcommgeekmom

The platform where bloggers raise crowd funding money meet for their blog sites. Illustrates how to make money online with your blog sites. Join free now.

Danielle M. Villegas's insight:

Now this is something I might take advantage of in coming months...I know I have a following, and I would love to expand what TechCommGeekMom is all about, but it takes time, energy, and in some cases, resources I don't have. I would love to be a one-woman tech comm "journalist" and get paid to do that, but alas, that's not reality right now. Perhaps in time, something like this would help to make that happen.

For any other potential bloggers who want to monetize and grow your blogs, this will be helpful for you! Thanks for Darin Hammond for bringing this to my attention.

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.